Downing edges Bennett in opener

DEAN DOWNING (Britain Rapha Condor Sharp) claimed the first An Post Rás raceleader’s yellow jersey when he edged out Sam Bennett(Belgium An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) in a ferocious bunch sprint into Portumna yesterday.

The opening stage of Irish cycling’s showpiece event that took the 172 riders from Dunboyne in Co. Meath to the banks of the River Shannon — just over 147 kilometres mostly into a headwind — was always going to end like this but there was drama six kilometres from the finish when several riders came down in a crash.

The UCI Commissaire President, Zabier Bilbao Zabala from Spain, who has officiated at the Tour de France, stopped the race although the riders at the front, including Sean Downey (Ireland Team Skoda), Yuriy Agarkov (ISD Lampre Continental) and Pete Williams (Motorpoint), who had a 32 second lead on the remainder of the field, were not aware of the incident.